Temporary porthole closure



June 24, 1958 v L. KIKAS 2,840,028

TEMPORARY PORTHOLE CLOSURE Filed March 11, 1957 s Sheds-Sheet 1 7 mvmon.

l4 Leonhard fl I ww- AGENT June 24, 1958 Filed March 11, 1957 L.l H(l\STEMPORARY PORTHOLE CLOSURE 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 AGENT June 24, 1958 L. KlKASTEMPORARY PORTHOLE CLOSURE Fi led March 11, 1957 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 UnitedStates Patent 2,840,028 TEMPORARY PORTHOLE CLOSURE Leonhard Kikas,Brooklyn, N. Y,

Application March 11, 1957, Serial No. 645,351

3 Claims. (Cl. 114-174) This invention relates to closures for theportholes of ships, and more particularly has reference to a closureintended to be applied temporarily to a porthole from the exterior ofthe enclosure into which the porthole opens.

It is an objectof the present invention to provide a porthole closurefor ships which can be applied to the porthole from a location disposedexteriorly of the deck house bulkheads or other wall in which theporthole is formed. It is proposed, thus, to permit open portholes to beclosed off from outside of a stateroom or other enclosure. In this way,there is eliminated the necessity of entering the stateroom for thepurpose of closing the portholes in the event they have been left open,at times when the deck house of the ship is being washed down.

Considerable difliculty has been experienced by washing crews, inWashing down the exteriors of a ships deck house bulkhead,superstructure, or other bulkhead,'wall, etc., in which a porthole maybe formed.

In such instances, it has been found that portholes may have been leftopen. Since the swinging closure normally provided upon a porthole canbe closed and locked only from the inside of the stateroom, it isnecessary for the worker to leave the location at which the Washingoperations are being performed, find and enter the stateroom, and thenclose the porthole during the washing operation. Since staterooms arefrequently left locked, delaysrare often encountered, preventing thewashing operation from being carried out with the desired speed andefficency.

In view of the difficulties which have heretofore .existed, it isproposed,'in carrying out the above stated main object of the invention,to provide a closure device applicable to the porthole from a locationexteriorly of the stateroom or other enclosure, and ,designed to be soapplied only temporarily, during the washing operation, with the devicesealably engaging the porthole to prevent leakage of the wash .waterthrough the porthole into the stateroom, the device being designed foreflicient use whether or not the conventional, permanently mounted,porthole closure is inclosed or open position.

It is another object of the present invention to provide.

a closure of the type described which will be characterized by the speedand ease with which it'can'be applied to the porthole, and will furtherbe characterized by its adaptability for effecting a good'sealingactionthroughout the periphery of the closure. 7

It is another object of the present invention to produce an effectiveperipheral sealing action even though the wall of the porthole may beroughened, paint blistered, or otherwise irregularly surfaced.

It is a further object of the, present invention toform the closure insuch manner that it can be applied to. portholes difiering from oneanother in respectto the diameter thereof, within, of course, aprescribed rang e of diameters.

Yet another object of the present invention is to form "ice the devicein a manner such that it can be manufactured at low cost, can be usedover a long period of time, and will be adapted for trouble-freeoperation without necessity of frequent replacement or repair of thecomponent parts thereof. i

For other objects and a better understanding of the invention, referencemay be had to the following detailed description taken in connectionwith the accompanying drawing in which:

Figure l is a perspective view showing a fragmentary portion of a hullof a ship, with a closure formed according to the present inventionbeing operatively positioned within a porthole;

Fig. 2 is an enlarged sectional view diagrammatically through theclosure and porthole, substantially on line 22 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a view like Fig. 2, in which the device hasbeen operated to aporthole-sealing, operative position, as distinguished from Fig. 2 inwhich the closure is in initial position before being caused to sealablyengage the wall of the porthole;

- Fig. 4 is an enlarged elevational view of the device as seen from theoutside of the wall or hull, that is, as seen when looking downwardly onFig. 3;

Fig. 5 is an elevational view, on the same scale as Fig. 4, illustratingthe inner clamping disc per se, a screw connecting said disc to an outerclamping disc being shown in section; and

Fig. 6 is a fragmentary elevational view of the outer clamping disc asseen from the inside of the ship, said outer disc being illustrated perse.

Referring now more in detail to the drawing, a wall, bulkhead, hull, orsimilar structure of a ship has been generally designated 10, and isformed with a plurality of porthole openings 11 each of which is closedin the conventional manner from the inside by a circular port 12 havingthe usual hinge brackets 14 receiving hinge pin 16, and having also theconventional handle 18.

As previously noted, difficulty has been experienced in that theporthole can be closed only from inside the state room, that is, port 12cannot be operated to and locked in a closed position from outside thewall, that is, from above the wall viewing the same as in Figs. 2 and 3.

The device 20 constituting the present invention is a temporary closurefor the porthole, applicable from outside the enclosure into which theporthole opens. The device in actuality comprises certain maincomponents, namely, an outer clamping disc generally designated 21, aninner clamping disc generally designated 22, a threaded connectorbetween the discs generally designated at 24, and an annular, radiallyextendable sealing gasket 26 engaged between the discs 21, .22.

Outer clamping disc 21 comprises a fiat, circular body 27 formedinwardly from its periphery with an :annular, continuous, outwardlydirected ,ribl23 the inuersurface of which is formed with acorrespondingly annular and continuous groove'3li (Fig. 2).

Angularly spaced aboutthe periphery of the body 27 are recesses 34,there being four'of these angularly spaced apart in a preferredembodiment of 'the'invention, as shown to particular advantage inFig. 1. Engaged in the recesses 34 are theinner ends of hard rubbertongues .36extending radially outwardly from the recesses and body 27and extendingthrough washers 49 thatcooperate :withthe'bottoms ofrecesses 34 in clampably' engaging the tongues 36 in recesses 34.

A center opening is formed in' body 27, and a hollow connector screwhousing 42, closed at its outer end by a plate 44, is formedintermediate its ends with. an outwardly direcetd flange 46 seating in ashallow, outwardly facing recess of body 27, that communicates with thehousing-receiving center opening of the recess. Bolts 48 engage theflange 46 and connect thesame fixedly to the body 27.

A connector screw 50, constituting a portion of the connected meansgenerally designaed 24, has a coarsely threaded intermediate portion 51,engaging complementary internal threads of housing 42, Screw 50, at itsinner end, has an axial recess. receiving the stem of a swivel head 52that seats rotatably in a center recess 53 of the inner disc 22. Acotter pin 54 extends through registering openings of the screw 50andthe stern of the swivel head 52, to connect the same for conjointrotational.

movement.

Referring now to the inner disc 22, this includes a flat body 56,integrally formed inwardly from its periphery with a continuous,outwardly directed rib 58 that fits snugly in and slidably contacts thewalls of groove 30 of the outer disc.

The marginal portion 60 of disc 22 is slightly thinner than the body 56as clearly seen from Figs. 2 and 3, and is spaced from the marginalportion of disc 21 to define therebetween a continuous, outwardlyopening clamping recess in which is disposed an annular, hollow,resiliently compressible gasket or sea-ling element 26.

As seen from Fig. 2, the inner face of the disc 21 has, adjacent groove30, an annular projection'32 having a curvingly depressed surfacebearing against the adjacent surface of the gasket 26.

- Formed in the body 56, between the center opening and the rib 58, is alarge aperture 62,.the purpose of which will be made apparenthereinafter.

Means is provided, connected between the' discs, to limit the sameagainst relative rotational movement be yond a partial single rotation.Said means includes a hook 64 threadedly connected to disc 22, a chain68 attached to the hook at one end of the chain (see Fig. and a hook 66connected to the disc 21. The aperture 62 provides access to the chain,to permit the chain to be disconnected at such time as desired.

In use of the device, the discs are shifted away from each other byrotation of the-screw 50 in one direction, so as to dispose the gasket26 in a relatively wide space between the marginal portions of thediscs. The device in this condition of the parts may be readilypositioned in a porthole 11, from a location outside the enclosure intowhich'theporthole opens. The tongues 36 limit the device againstmovement inwardly of the porthole, before the device can engage the port12.

Thereafter, it is merely necessary that the screw 50 be turned in adirection to shift the discs toward one another. The screw swivels inthe body 56, and as a result advances the disc 21 toward the disc 22.This causes the gasket 26 tobe placed under compression (Fig. 3) tendingto radially expand the gasket out of the marginal groove defined betweenthe respective discs, into sealing engagement with the wall of theporthole as shown in Fig. 3.

When the screw 50 is being turned in a direction to shift the clampingdiscs toward or away from each other, a handle 29, rigidly secured toand extending outwardly from the rib 28 of the outer disc, can begrasped'in'one hand to hold the outer disc against rotation duringturning of the screw. The chain 68, of course, will thenoperatetoholdtheinner disc against rotation relative to the outer disc,except perhaps through a few degrees of a single cycle of rotationalmovement In this way, the porthole is efiectively sealed, while theoutside of the wall is being washed down, and it is completelyunnecessary to enter'the stateroom for the purpose of ClOSlIJg andlocking the conventional port 12.

When the area surrounding the porthole has been washed, the closure isremoved with equal facility, by rotating screw 50 in a direction toshift the discs 21, 22 away from each other, thereby eliminating thegrip of the gasket upon the wall of the porthole, to permit the deviceto be removed and located in the next adjacent porthole. Of course, asubstantial number of the de vices might be used in a particularoperation, so that a corresponding number of portholes can all be closedfrom the outside, should their ports be in open position. In this way,an area of substantial size can be washed down, after which the severalclosures 20 can all be removed and placed in the next location to bewashed.

While various changes may be made in the detailed construction, it shallbe understood that such changes shall be within the spirit and scope ofthe present invention .as defined by the appended claims.

What I claim as new and desire to protect by Letters Patent of theUnited States is:

l. A closure for temporarily sealing a porthole, comprising a pair ofconcentric clamping discs, manually operated means adjustably supportingsaid discs in predetermined spaced apart parallel relationship foraxially shifting the discs toward and away from each other, and a.gasket clampably engaged between and extending peripherally of thediscs, saidgasket being expandable in a direction radially outwardly ofthe discs responsive to movement of the discs toward each other forsealably engaging the wall of the porthole.

2. A closure as in claim 1, said gasket comprising a hollow, continuoustube formed of a resilient, yielding material.

3. A closure as in claim 1, one of said discs having a continuous groovespaced inwardly from the periphery of the disc, the other disc having acontinuous rib correspondingly spaced inwardly from its periphery andengaging in the groove for guiding the discs in their movement towardand away from each other, said rib forming a wall bearing against theinner side of said gasket to limit the expansion of said gasket in adirection radially inwardly of the discs.

4. A closure as in claim 1, one of said discs including a plurality ofstops angularly, uniformly spaced circumferentially of said one disc andextending radially outwardly therefrom to engage the edge portion of theporthole, thereby to limit movement of the closure bodily inwardly ofthe porthole.

5. A closure as in claim 1, said manually operated means including ascrew swivelly connected to one of the discs and having a threadedconnection to the other disc.

6. A closure as in claim 5, further including arresting means detachablyconnected between the discs limiting relative rotational displacementbetween said discs.

7. A closure as in claim 1, said gasket comprising a continuous,annular, resiliently deformable member adapted for compression in adirection axially of the respective discs and further adapted forexpansion beyond the peripheries of the discs when so compressed.

8. A closure as in claim 7, said discs respectively including wallsurfaces bearing against the inner side of the gasket in each positionto which the discs are shifted toward and away from each other, to limitsaid gasket against expansion in a direction radially inwardly of thediscs.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTSEllison July 30, 19 18

